UK Newspaper Printer Adopts Kodak Inkjet Inline Imprinter

By: E&P Staff CN Newsprint, Carlisle, England, is the first to use the new Kodak Prosper S10 imprinting system in a newspaper production environment. The company is exploring commercial opportunities for the inkjet technology, which delivers variable data, 600-dpi high-speed offset in line with an offset press.

The print division of Cumbria information provider CN Group, the family-run business has publishing, print and radio divisions and operates 43 Websites and multimedia channels that cover a wide area, including Northern Ireland. Print production includes tabloid and broadsheet newspapers, quarter-fold magazines, newsletters, supplements, inserts and political promotions. Using stocks ranging from standard newsprint to high white 70-gram paper, the company produces more than 25 million newspapers per year.

Integrating Kodak's Prosper S10 imprinting system with its newspaper press, CN Newsprint already is seeing a "high-quality match with the newsprint," the division's general manager, Guy Forrester, said in a statement. "We're assessing the concept, the quality and the speeds of the S10, and we are already enjoying litho-class content on images and graphics, as well as text."

Forrester added that if the current speed of 60,000 copies per hour can be maintained while printing variable data, "it will be a huge boost to our business."

The company is testing specialty applications for Kodak's Stream inkjet technology, including retail marketing, vouchers, interactive games and lotteries. It is considering the imprinting system's use in geographically customizing supermarket inserts with unique vouchers and interactive games. The S10's variable data capabilities also would enable barcoding in retail promotions.

According to Kodak, the monochrome continuous-inkjet solution for high-speed web devices delivers variable data printing with savings of as much as 50% on production costs. The Prosper S10 Imprinting System operates at 1,000 fpm at 600 dpi across a 4.16 inch width using pigment-based inks that resist fading, scratching and water.